Wieters and Hester give scouting reports

SARASOTA, Fla. - Matt Wieters caught Tsuyoshi Wada's bullpen session yesterday, so I decided to get a quick scouting report on the Japanese left-hander before today's early workout. "I think he's going to be a good pitcher," Wieters said. "He's going to be a mix-it-up guy. It was just a bullpen session, but he was throwing all four pitches on both sides of the plate, and that sort of lets you know that he has confidence in all his pitches and we're not just going to have to throw fastballs in certain counts. When a guy can break out all four pitches on both sides of the plate, that means he's pretty confident to throw whatever it is that you put down." Wada throws his fastball on both sides, "and a changeup that looked really good," Wieters said. "His slider is definitely going to be effective, and he's got a curveball that he can throw for strikes anytime he wants. He was throwing a good many of his off-speed pitches on both sides of the plate. It seems like he's ready to go and ready to pitch. He's not just going out there to get his arm ready. He's getting everything ready." Wieters hasn't had any trouble communicating with Wada in the early days of camp, but he's keeping it pretty simple. "He understood changeup, he understood fastball, he understood curveball," Wieters said. "Right now, that's all we really need to know, what he likes to throw in certain situations. We'll work on the other stuff as we get going." John Hester caught reliever Matt Lindstrom yesterday, and he probably needs a new mitt. Lindstrom's fastball can shred the leather. "The ball explodes out of his hand," Hester said. "He's got a lot of life on all his pitchers and he's one of those effortless guys who doesn't need to try real hard. The ball just comes out real hard." Hester also caught Jake Arrieta, who seems to be fully recovered from his elbow surgery. "He looked great," Hester said. "He had a good changeup. He threw a few good curveballs, but it was more about getting loose with that one. He had good command of his fastball and his changeup had good movement on it." Speaking of catchers, Michael Ohlman has reported to camp as Dane Sardinha's replacement. Sardinha failed his physical because of an elbow injury. Dylan Bundy is scheduled to throw his bullpen session today at 10 a.m. He's going to attract a crowd.